1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a row crop header for an agricultural harvesting machine having hollow self-supporting plastic crop dividers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural harvesting machines, such as combines, maybe provided with a row crop header for harvesting row crops. A typical row crop header comprises a plurality of crop dividers. Adjacent dividers define a crop gathering gap into which the crop being harvested is drawn by gathering units. The gathering units may comprise gathering chains or serpentine belts. The gathering units direct the crop to the harvesting units which may comprise a cutting mechanism or snapping rolls. The harvesting units harvest the crop located in the crop gathering gap. The harvested crop is directed to the feederhouse of the combine by an auger. For a row crop header of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,783, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which is incorporated herein by reference, the gathering units comprise serpentine gathering belts and the harvesting units comprise rotating cutting discs located beneath the gathering belts are used to severe the crop from the ground.
Another type of row crop header is the corn header which is designed to harvest corn. With a corn header such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,021, assigned to the assignee of the present patent application and incorporated herein by reference, the gathering units comprise gathering chains. Located beneath the gathering chains are the harvesting units that comprise snapper rolls which engage the corn stalk and pull it rapidly downwardly. When the ear of corn reaches the small gap formed by the snapper rolls the ear is snapped off and carried to the gathering trough of the corn header by the gathering chains. The stalk is continually pulled downward and returned to the field.
Row crop dividers define the gathering gaps. Row crop dividers are typically sheet metal fingers that extend outwardly from the header to direct the crops to the appropriate gathering gaps. Sheet metal crop dividers suffer from certain disadvantages. First, they are relatively heavy and this weight is located outward from the base of the combine resulting in a large moment arm on the front axle of the combine. Second, the paint on the sheet metal tends to wear resulting in bare metal that starts to rust. Third, the sheet metal is relatively rigid and corn ears tend to bounce off the crop dividers and back into the field resulting in harvesting losses. Fourth, in cold moist conditions water condenses on the sheet metal dividers which increases the adherence of leaves and other field debris to the dividers causing plugging of the gathering units.